


Can I Ask You a Question?

by therabbitprince



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, Humor, Language, M/M, Mild Language, rating might go up in the future
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-23
Updated: 2014-07-23
Packaged: 2018-02-10 04:05:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2010294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/therabbitprince/pseuds/therabbitprince
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren is unusually curious, much to the annoyance of his friends, and spends his time in bookstores searching for what he feels are the secrets of the world. Until one day, he finds a strange phone number scribbled in a book.</p><p>Levi is a famous freelance photographer, whose life of quiet luxury is interrupted when a strange brat begins pestering him with the weirdest fucking questions he has ever seen.</p><p>And yet he answers.</p><p>This is the story of their exchange.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Question One

To say Eren Jaeger was curious was an understatement, really. Almost like saying Jesus was a good dude or that space was a little on the big side.

“Mikasa,” Eren drawled, fanning his face with a piece of paper. “Why are oceans so big? Like, how can so much water just sit there? It goes on and on and on an--”

“Eren, get back to work,” she replied, not even bothering to glance up at the reclining figure of the boy. “Your assignment's due soon and you haven't even started. Not to mention you're crumpling your instructions.”

A quick glance at his now-crumpled paper confirmed the truth. He groaned.

Turning to his next victim, he whined, “Armin, why ar--”

“Gravity,” the blonde muttered while typing furiously at his computer. “And a bunch of other stuff.”

The trio was settled in the boys' dorm, finishing up last-minute homework in the sweltering August heat.

With a satisfied click of her computer, Mikasa leaned back against the bed and stretched. “All done, with an hour to spare.”

Armin echoed her movements. “I am _never_ procrastinating again. Ever.”

“You said that last week.”

“I'll probably say it next week, too.”

Eren sighed. “I don't get why they're loading us with so much work. It's only the first month of the semester and this is already impossible.”

The black-haired girl rolled her eyes. “If you'd actually gotten started instead of playing twenty questions, you'd find that it's not actually that bad.”

He looked back to his computer and the discouraging sight of his extremely blank word document. In terms of interest level, analyzing the plot of a book wasn't very high up there. Probably near the very bottom, to be honest. Even so, starting off the semester with a zero—especially his _first_ semester—wasn't a swell idea.

But there was no way he could get any work done in this oven of a room.

Eren stood up and reached for his keys. “I'm heading to somewhere with actual air-conditioning. I'll see you guys later, alright?”

“Coming home for dinner?” Mikasa asked.

“Probably not. I'll text you.”

“Alright, be safe,” she replied as she resumed sitting in front of their tiny fan. “Fans are such wonderful creations, Armin, aren't they?”

“Truly great. They deserve a Nobel Prize.”

* * *

Eren parked in front of his usual place, a quaint, secondhand bookstore a few miles away from campus. _Shiganshina Reads,_ it read on the antique wooden storefront. The store held a wide variety of books and contained a small cafe in the very corner. Due to the fact that the nearby Trost University had larger and more extensive libraries, _Shiganshina_ wasn't frequented by students – which Eren felt only added to its charm.

He opened the door and practically melted under the sweet caress of manmade air. The scent of freshly brewed coffee with a musty undertone of books enveloped him and he sighed happily. His home away from home.

“Welcome, Eren. What'll it be today?” greeted the auburn-haired woman. Petra was the owner of _Shiganshina_ and practically his second mother. Those friendly hazel eyes had seen him grow from a curious child to an equally curious teen. Not to mention, it was Petra that had introduced him to books in the first place.

“Hey, Petra. Today it's …” he thought of the conversation he had had with his friends earlier. “Oceans.”

“Fourth shelf from the right,” she replied, gesturing to her left.

Thanking her, he walked toward the catalog of books. How many times had he been between these shelves, searching for one thing or another? He traced the well-used spines with his finger.

“Deep sea creatures and other terrifying nautical tales, huh? Maybe for another time.”

“The truth about the tides. I think Armin explained that one.”

He ran through the list of titles until he found one that caught his eye. It had lost its book jacket during its travels and simply read _Oceans_ in gold lettering atop a navy binding. Interest piqued, he opened it to find striking oceanic photographs, with small captions listing information about the scene. The visuals, simple pictures of oceans, both chaotic and placid, took his breath away.

“Partly due to the melting of polar glaciers, nearly 78% of the Earth is covered by oceans,” he read. “So that's why.”

He sat spellbound by the photographs that threatened to spill out from the pages. How could an image capture exactly the sensation of the oceans? If he looked closely, he could almost see the waves lapping at the shore, almost hear the sound of the tides. Each picture was a silent masterpiece, stained with emotion. Could the ocean even show emotion?

His pondering was interrupted by a chirping from his phone.

**_From: Mikasa_ **

**_25 mins left. hope you're almost done bc prof auruo has a pole up his ass when it comes to late work_ **

“Shit,” Eren muttered. How could thirty-five minutes have passed by so quickly? He glanced forlornly at the book. His broke university student budget didn't leave him much room for personal expenses, and Mikasa would surely have his ass if she found out he bought another book. With a reluctant sigh, he began to quickly flip through the rest of the pages before he put it back on the shelf when a small piece of paper flew out and nearly attacked his corneas.

“Jesus fucking shit!” he exclaimed and immediately felt the multiple withering glares of the elderly around him.

Heart pounding, he warily picked up the offending object only to find hastily scribbled writing written on the back. A bookmark? Notes?

A closer look showed the familiar format of ten digits. Ah, a phone number.

He scrutinized the paper for any other marks and found nothing. Whose number was it? The author's? Publisher's? A lonely hot single in his area?

His phone chirped once more, another ever-friendly reminder that he now only had twenty minutes to bullshit an essay. Without another thought, Eren saved the number, simply titling the mysterious contact as “Oceans” for now. Not that he had any plans to contact them.

He placed the book back in its rightful place before setting up his belongings at a corner table in the cafe. With a grim smile, he faced his computer as if he was a soldier heading out to war.

“Let's get shit done.”

* * *

Eren made it two feet into his dorm before unceremoniously collapsing to the floor. If the government ever needed another form of torture, this was it. It was like he had run a marathon, except with his brain. Did that make sense? Nothing made sense anymore.

“Everything hurts,” he moaned into the carpet.

Armin came out holding cans of beer. “I'm assuming that means you finished. Need a drink?”

“More than I need air,” he replied, taking in giant gulps of the ice-cold liquid. More than anything, he had to stop thinking. “I'm never--”

“Procrastinating again,” Armin finished. “We know that's complete bullshit. You're gonna be doing this for the next four years.”

He stared indignantly at the blonde. “Should I be offended?”

“Just stating the facts.”

The roommates sat in easy conversation until Armin went to shower. Now alone with his thoughts, it took only a short while before Eren was reminded of the day's strange incident. He scrolled through his contacts until he found “Oceans”.

Eren had been subjected to numerous, repetitive lectures of “stranger danger” while growing up. And the first commandment of stranger danger was to never talk to strangers. All other commandments branched off of the first. Taking candy from a stranger? Wouldn't happen if you didn't talk to them first. Getting rides from a stranger? Close your mouth and walk away. So Eren knew that texting this number was a very bad idea.

But on the other hand, Eren was drunk.

Staring at the numerous empty cans piling up on his table, Eren made up his mind.

“Fuck it.”

Taking care to spell his words correctly, he pressed send and threw his phone onto the bed. 

_**To: Oceans** _

**_if_ _some of mankind lived on mars, would we have to develop new calendars to adjust to the difference in the length of days?_ **

The question had sat on his mind for a few days now, and who better to answer it than some stranger? His friends' answers had become all too predictable.

 _“Eren, get back to (insert responsibility here)”_ was Mikasa's usual reply.

Armin would say something technical and scientific that would probably take Eren a few days with a dictionary and a doctorate degree to decode. Anyone else would give him the blank stares he was accustomed to.

When minutes had gone by without a single sign of life from his phone, he sighed. In terms of being an idiot, he had hit the jackpot. Who was to say the number even belonged to a person? It had probably been disconnected long ago, or hell, maybe led straight to a sex hotline. _We can't take you to Mars but our services will have you out of this world!_

Resigning himself to the conclusion that there would be no reply, he picked up his phone and almost pissed himself when it began buzzing in his hands.

**_(1) New Message from Oceans_ **

Well, shit. He looked at the unfamiliar number. It was alive. He quickly slid his finger to open the message. 

_**From: Oceans** _

_**Who the fuck is this?** _

At least he could cross sex hotline off the list. He was pretty sure unfriendliness wasn't a way to gain customers.

Reluctant to use his actual name, he settled for his last. All those stranger danger lessons hadn't completely gone to waste.

_**To: Oceans** _

_**i** ' **m Jaeger.**_

He had to admit that sounded pretty fucking cool. The reply came immediately.

**_From: Oceans_ **

**_Again, who the fuck are you?_ **

**_To: Oceans_ **

**_i found your number in a book. your turn_ **

Eren bit his lip. Did that sound creepy? But then again, what was not creepy about this situation?

_**From: Oceans** _

**_What kind of fucked up answer is that? My turn for what? I didn't know we were playing a goddamn game._ **

**_To: Oceans_ **

**_to answer the question!!_ **

Despite the stranger's prickly, profane responses, Eren had to admit he was enjoying himself.

_**_From: Oceans_ ** _

**_I'm not answering your fucking question._ **

_**To: Oceans** _

**_please?_ **

Eren waited half an hour but his phone remained silent. He probably crossed a line with that; any sane person would have stopped responding after the book comment. He couldn't bring himself to regret it though—talking to the stranger had been the most entertainment he'd had in ages. There was something about his bluntness that interested him.

With that thought, he got into bed and promptly fell asleep, drained from the mental exercise he had done earlier that day. Much too deep of a sleep to hear his phone buzz softly.

**_(1) New Message from Oceans:_ **

**_From: Oceans_ **

**_Because we're so goddamn stubborn in our ways, the fucks that live on Mars (physically impossible, by the way) would have to find a way to adjust to how we measure our days, rendering the whole “one orbit one year” thing irrelevant._ **

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks a bunch for reading! 
> 
> This was at first a passing brainfart, but after developing a skeletal idea of what the plot's gonna be, I'm hoping to continue this further. (Writing gods, please grant me the willpower and motivation.) As of right now, the characters and side relationships are all very tentative, but it'll get more concrete as more is added.
> 
> This is actually my first attempt at publicly writing and posting a fic, so comments and critiques are greatly appreciated !! 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed! 
> 
> Tumblr ; therabbitprince


	2. Question Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the horse is introduced, the future is mentioned, and the mystery behind toenail growth is solved.

 Eren woke up to the sound of death itself.

He couldn't really describe it in human words, actually. If someone combined the sounds of dying animals, motorcycle engines, and nails screeching on chalkboards into one, they'd reach about half the level of horror of this utterly satanic noise.

“JESUS CHRIST,” he exclaimed, almost sincere. Because hell, if there was one person that could rescue him in that situation, it was the big man upstairs.

“Oh, you're up?” asked a voice too high to be Satan.

“Armin? What the hell was that?”

The blonde stepped into his room. “Something I made to wake you up. You're not a morning person, and physically waking you up is nearly impossible so I blended some sounds for an alarm. Pretty cool, right?”

“Cool? I thought I was in the seventh circle of hell.”

“Well, you're up and in the end that's all that matters. Class starts soon, so if you want breakfast you'd better be out in five!”

Eren groaned at his friend's retreating figure. How could someone who looked so angelic be so... not? He blindly grabbed for his phone and checked the time. Instead of the digits he was familiar with, he was met with a new text notification.

_Oceans? Who the fuck was—Oh._

Oceans had replied? His sleepiness dissipated at record speed as he quickly opened the message.

**_From: Oceans_ **

**_Because we're so goddamn stubborn in our ways, the fucks that live on Mars (physically impossible, by the way) would have to find a way to adjust to how we measure our days, rendering the whole “one orbit one year” thing irrelevant._**

He stared at the screen for a few seconds before bursting out into laughter. How could a reply be so perfect? The answer was so logical, so blunt, so satisfying. It was like a meal that hit the spot – no one had managed to satiate his curiosity as this person had.

He needed more.

**_To: Oceans_ **

**_you're right, i could totally imagine us doing that._ **

**_hey, why do toenails grow so much slower than fingernails? i broke one of mine a week ago and it barely grew back._**

His fingers danced across the screen before finally landing on “send”. Realizing that there was no use waiting for a reply—based on his previous exchanges with them—he placed his phone on the dresser before getting changed into the day's attire.

Armin and the heavenly aroma of freshly cooked bacon met him in the kitchen.

“You seem weirdly happy this morning, is something up?” Armin asked.

“Do I?” Eren smiled. “I guess it's just one of those days.”

“Oh, okay. I thought you forgot that there was a quiz today or something.”

“Excuse me?”

* * *

The day went by uneventfully—save for the fact he bombed his literature quiz—and soon he was meeting up with Armin and Mikasa in the university cafeteria for lunch. He slumped into his chair at the occupied table, groaning as he did so.

Mikasa simply raised an eyebrow, to which Armin answered, “Auruo quiz.”

She nodded in response, giving Eren a sympathetic pat on the back—which quickly turned into a slap when Armin mentioned his lack of studying.

“How could you forget to study for a test three weeks into the semester? It's too early for that kind of behavior, Eren,” she scolded.

“I know, I know, it just slipped my mind,” Eren grumbled. “It's his fault anyway. What kind of teacher assigns a test the day after an essay's due? I'm pretty sure that's a violation of student rights or something.”

Mikasa sighed. “If you can't handle freshman English courses, how are you going to choose a major later? You can't stay undeclared forever, you know.”

Armin looked at him concernedly. “She's right, Eren. Have you thought about what you want to do yet?”

Eren's sighs deepened. The two were right, but it wasn't like he didn't know that already. He knew his life was at a standstill, blowing thousands of dollars on a college education that as of currently, wasn't taking him anywhere. Armin, as both a psychology and neuroscience major, had already signed up for numerous classes concerning the human mind and had begun looking into internships. Mikasa had applied as a math major, although her sole reason was that “she was good at it”.

“It's not that there's nothing I want to do, it's that there's too much I want to do,” he complained. “I want to know how everything works, but not to the point where I want to devote my life to studying it. If I commit to one subject, that means I can't explore other areas as freely as I want to. I want to learn everything, but not as deeply as everyone expects me to, and there's nothing that I feel like I'm actively passionate for, I just want to _know_ and,” he trailed off, noticing his friends' blank stares. “Do you get me?”

They seemed to struggle for an answer, finally deciding on shaking their heads slowly.

“It's alright, Eren, you'll find something soon,” Armin said, attempting a cheery tone.

“It's been nineteen years and I haven't felt a single inkling of what I'm passionate for,” the brunette muttered in response.

The table sat in gloomy silence, searching for words that weren't there.

Until Eren was slapped rudely on the back by a certain horse-faced douchebag.

“Why the long faces, guys?” Jean laughed, taking a seat next to Armin.

“Long face? You should talk,” Eren grumbled, rubbing his sore back.

“Shut up, asswipe.”

“Dickfucker.”

“Nosehair.”

“Guys, guys, stop. Eren, that's not even physically possible, and Jean, I don't even think that's an insult,” Armin placed his hands on the boys' shoulders.

Eren opened his mouth to retort, but was interrupted by a buzzing in his pants. Choosing instead to roll his eyes at the two, he reached into his pockets and was greeted by a welcoming sight.

**_(1) New Message from Oceans_ **

**_From: Oceans_ **

**_One, that's fucking disgusting. Don't talk to me about that kind of shit. Two, why the fuck are you asking me these questions? Last time I checked, my name wasn't Wikipedia._ **

Eren cracked a smile. Without lifting his head to look at the conversation around him, he quickly jotted out a reply.

**_To: Oceans_ **

**_don't talk to you about that stuff.. does that mean i can talk to you about other things? :0 and alright, what's your name then??_**

The reply came instantly.

**_From: Oceans_ **

**_That wasn't an excuse for you to ask._**

**_To: Oceans_ **

**_but i did._ **

**_From: Oceans_ **

**_Still doesn't mean I'll answer._ **

_**To: Oceans** _

**_p_ _lease?_ **

Again with the silence. It seemed like he was always crossing lines with this person, pressing a little too far than he should. With a reluctant final glance at his silent phone, he tucked it into his pockets before throwing himself back in the conversation.

“Jean, stop eye-fucking Armin. You're making me want to throw up my spaghetti.”

The tawny-haired male blushed, staring daggers at him. “At least I'm fucking. When's the last time you've gotten laid? The Stone Age?”

“Later today, actually. I'll tell your mom you said hi.”

“You son of a--”

The two were interrupted by Mikasa's stony glare. “Both of you virgins shut up. Jean, your sex life consists of snapchat nudes and internet porn, and Eren, your biggest sexual adventure was seven minutes in heaven in the ninth grade.”

Both boys flushed scarlet.

Eren broke the silence. “Snapchat nudes? With wh--” He glanced at Armin, who was slowly turning redder by the second. “Seriously?” He turned back to Mikasa. “How do you even know about this?”

“Some idiots can't type. Jean sent it to me by accident,” she said, shuddering at the memory of waking up to a dick. “I had to bleach my eyes after that.”

“Was it as small as I think it is?”

“Well, I mean, it's not lacking, but I'm not the best judge of that.”

“ _Okay_ , can we please stop talking about my dick while I'm in the room?” Jean groaned, putting a hand over his face. “And Mikasa, you promised you wouldn't tell.”

“I don't remember saying that.”

Eren stood up, gathering his tray. “It's been fun guys, but I have a shit ton of work to do if I ever want to recover from that beating my grade took from today's quiz. I'll see you guys later, alright?”

The thought of the effort it would take just to bring up his grade actually made him nauseous. He could cross English off the list of his possible future endeavors. The world was fascinating enough as it was; he didn't need to flood his life with a bunch of fictional universes. It was probably why he preferred nonfiction: the truth was always more interesting than made-up stories.

His musings were interrupted by another familiar buzzing in his pockets. Taking a second to look at the notification, he opened the message.

_**From: Oceans** _

**_Levi. And yours is? I don't buy that Jaeger bullshit. If it is your name, it's a shitty one._**

His eyebrows furrowed. Alright, maybe that wasn't as cool as he intended it to be.

**_To: Oceans_ **

**_eren. jaeger (which is NOT shitty) is my last name. nice to meet you, levi!_**

**_From: Oceans_ **

**_I don't even think we really met. You just bombarded my phone with stupid-ass text messages about Mars and toenails or some shit._**  

**_To: Oceans_ **

**_oh yeah, speaking of toenails. do you have an answer?_**

**_From: Oceans_ **

**_ARE WE STILL ON THIS_**

**_To: Oceans_ **

**_yeah,_** **_of course!!_**

The conversation slowed, and then stopped. _Levi._ He found that the name rolled smoothly off his tongue, as if it was a word he'd spoken for ages instead of a name he'd just learned. _Levi, Levi, Levi._ He liked that name.

He quickly updated his contact information, replacing “Oceans” with the new name. Almost as soon as he saved the info, his phone lit up with a notification.

**_(1) New Text Message from Levi_ **

He could get used to that.

**_From: Levi_ **

_**There's a lot of reasons, so no one knows for sure. Something about being close to the heart and better blood flow. They also say that it's because your toes are saved from less trauma than your fingers, but I guess in your situation it's not the case. Idiot.**_

**_To: Levi_ **

**_that's actually really interesting._**

**_From: Levi_ **

**_So?_**

**_To: Levi_ **

**_so what??_**

**_From: Levi_ **

**_So how'd it happen? It's not fair that you get to ask all the questions, right?_**

Eren laughed. It was the first time Levi had shown actual interest in talking to him.

_**To: Levi** _

_**well, i was walking outside barefoot because i had THE worst sandal tan, and i was passing these basketball courts, right? all of a sudden a basketball rolls toward me at the speed of light or something and without thinking i block it with my toe. my fucking toe. i s2g i thought i broke the whole toe for a sec.**_

A second went by without a reply. Then a minute. Had he been too personal?

 _**From: Levi** _ _  
_

_**You really are a fucking idiot. As idiots go, you're really up there.**_

Somehow, he couldn't bring himself to feel offended.

_**so i've heard... well, what about you? did you ever do something stupid?** _

He smiled as his phone buzzed again. There was no way he was getting anything done tonight.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> //sighs. I don't know about you, but I love the casual frenemy relationship between Eren and Jean, and I could only hope that I did it justice. 
> 
> Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it.  
> Sorry about the short chapters!
> 
> Tumblr; therabbitprince


End file.
